Carver Bancorp's Losses Narrow as Credit Quality Improves

Carver Bancorp Inc. in New York reported a loss of $700,000 for its fiscal third quarter, as the recapitalized company took steps to mark down its problems assets.

A year earlier, the $670 million-asset Carver reported a loss of $8.2 million for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2010.

Carver's provision for loan losses was $100,000, compared to $6.2 million a year earlier and chargeoffs were $1.1 million, down 52% from a year earlier. Its loan-loss provision was offset by a $1.7 million recovery on a construction loan.

The company's noninterest income was $600,000, down 68% from a year earlier, largely because of $500,000 of valuation adjustments taken on the company's held for sale loans.

Carver's nonperforming assets totaled $93.9 million, down 21% from the quarter ending Sept. 30, 2011.

In June, the then-adequately capitalized Carver Federal Savings Bank was given a lifeline when its holding company was able to attract $55 million of new equity from the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc., Prudential Insurance Co., American Express Co., First Republic Bank and National Community Investment Fund, a Chicago-based private-equity group. At Dec. 31, the thrift, the nation's largest African-American-run financial institution, was exceedingly well capitalized, with a total risk-based capital ratio of 17.11%.